Attract pen shoppers with creative strategies to pique interest in your brand.
If confronting the wall of pens at a local office supply store feels daunting and intimidating, adopt a novel approach for promoting your pen brand so you can compete on your own terms. Even a box of ballpoint pens can be romanced and used to promote the brand, so figure out what strategy makes the most sense for your situation and then write your own success story.
Instructions
1. Find your brand's USP (unique selling proposition). Montblanc pens have dominated the retail market for decades and because the brand so well established, promotional efforts are rarely made. BIC, the mother lode of cheap, disposable pens -- and the first to pack multiple pens in a blister pack -- promoted itself so well decades ago, customer loyalty has remained strong. Figure out what your brand can do that no other pen can, and that's your USP.
2. Give your pen brand a personality to increase visibility. You've seen what a duck can do for Aflac insurance and what elves have done for the Keebler cookie brand. Commission a character to represent your pen brand. Use the image lavishly to separate your writing instrument from the herd. By the way, if you've done your homework, you already know that the "pen-guin" is taken.
3. Build a website to promote your pen brand. Salt the site with keywords so search engines point pen shoppers in your direction. Use a variety of pen-related words to nab browsers: "fountain," "ballpoint," "writing instrument," "roller tip" and more. Scour pen displays and packages for keyword suggestions so you don't miss an opportunity to nab surfers eager to discover a new type of pen rolling into this busy market.
4. Build a PR campaign around your pen brand to get free publicity. Tap social networking tools. Hold a design contest limiting entries to your pen brand. Make a video of innovative ways to use your pen or find interesting tidbits for trivia buffs. Don't limit your promotional efforts. Think outside the pen. Aim for getting your pen brand into the hands of White House suppliers; it could wind up signing a bill into law.
5. Respect tradition. Promoting a pen brand using tried-and-true methods still works. Get your brand into office supply catalogs, brochures and free-standing inserts to build brand recognition. Partnering with a paper company makes good sense, too. Put a coupon for a free pen on the outer wrapping of legal pads, for example, to introduce your pen brand to shoppers. As a bonus, you'll build a mailing list for future promotions.
6. Think beyond the predictable promotion. Writing instrument brands have become collectible over time. Old, rare and distinctive pens are sought by collectors. Your new, not-so-rare pen brand may not have history on its side like Cartier, Montblanc, Parker and Waterman, but if you produce, for example, 10,000 pens as a limited edition and spread the word about the finite production, you could increase its brand name recognition right now, when it counts.
Tags: your brand, brand into, office supply, promotional efforts, writing instrument